ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The U.S. Navy apologized on Saturday to the community of Angoon for their bombardment of the Tlingit community there 142 years ago.
The bombardment of Angoon on Oct. 26, 1882 killed several children and destroyed all but one of the village’s canoes, which were vital to hunting and fishing, according to Angoon officials. The apology was delivered by members of the U.S Navy, including Rear Adm. Mark Sucato, during a traditional ku.éex’, a traditional Tlingit ceremony. Bombardment remembrance events started at 10 a.m. Saturday in the high school gymnasium.
“The Navy recognizes the pain and suffering inflicted upon the Tlingit people and we acknowledge these wrongful actions resulted in the loss of life, the loss of resources, the loss of culture, and created and inflicted intergenerational trauma on these clans,” said Rear Adm. Sucato. “The Navy takes the significance of this action very, very seriously and …